Study Shows Productivity Gains of Up To Nearly US$20,000 per Workstation, per Year, for 2011 Releases

LOS ANGELES — (BUSINESS WIRE) — July 27, 2010 — Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) is announcing the publication of four research reports from Pfeiffer Consulting quantifying the specific performance, productivity and efficiency gains of Autodesk Maya 2011 and Autodesk 3ds Max 2011 software, as compared to specific earlier versions. Benchmark tests indicate that, in common 3D workflow situations, the new features and enhancements in the 2011 releases can help yield a return on investment (ROI) of nearly US$20,000 per year, per workstation for Maya and as much as $16,000 per year, per workstation for 3ds Max.

The four research reports consist of two comprehensive ROI studies and two user-workflow productivity studies:

• Autodesk 3ds Max 2011 Market Perspectives, Productivity and Return on Investment
• Autodesk Maya 2011 Market Perspectives, Productivity and Return on Investment
• Autodesk 3ds Max 2011: Productivity Benchmarks
• Autodesk Maya 2011: Productivity Benchmarks

To view the reports, or to learn more about how Autodesk’s 2011 Digital Entertainment Creation solutions are helping artists to be more creative, productive and efficient, visit www.autodesk.com/modernpipeline.

“Our customers are constantly balancing creativity and innovation with the need to meet tight production deadlines and budgets,” said Stig Gruman, Autodesk vice president, digital entertainment. “As a result, Autodesk has focused on developing both innovative creative tools as well as on under-the-hood architectural changes to improve the performance of Maya and 3ds Max. The cumulative impact of the improvements assessed in the Pfeiffer studies on modern production pipelines is significant. The Pfeiffer studies help illustrate how productivity gains in everyday operations can lead to savings of thousands of dollars per year.”

Major Findings for Autodesk Maya 2011

Pfeiffer has assessed several key new features and enhancements available in Maya 2011 that significantly improve performance and efficiency over Maya 8.5 (the benchmark reference), including:

• Camera Sequencer: In benchmark testing, creating a walkthrough with four different cameras was five times faster in Maya 2011.
• 64-bit Support: In testing, rendering a complex 2K image, with a high polygon count and complex effects, took 50 minutes with Maya 8.5 and only 20 minutes with Maya 2011.
• Auto Resize for Fluid Containers: Maya 2011 was capable of testing and adapting a simple 15-second animation with fluid emitter more than three times faster than Maya 8.5.
• Soft Selection: Compared to Maya 2010, the 2011 version cut a full minute off the time required to make a single localized modification of a polygon mesh and execute multiple modifications.

Major Findings for Autodesk 3ds Max 2011

Some new features and enhancements that Pfeiffer assessed in 3ds Max 2011 that yield significant performance and efficiency improvements over 3ds Max 2008 (the benchmark reference) are:

• Character Animation Toolset (CAT): In testing, the time to rig a simple leg from scratch and create a complete game character with legs, spine and arms was cut by more than 70 percent.
• Quadrify: Removing excess edges from a simple model through manual selection/rotation took almost 10 minutes with 3ds Max 2008 and only a single click in 3ds Max 2011.
• Shift Brush: Creating a simple deformation of a plane using Shift Brush versus creating a similar model with soft selections took a quarter of the time.

An in-depth description of the methodology, system configurations, comprehensive benchmark description and results of the Pfeiffer reports are available at http://www.pfeifferreport.com/benchrep_recent.html.

About Pfeiffer Consulting

Pfeiffer Consulting is an independent technology research institute and consulting operation focused on the needs of publishing, digital content production and new media professionals. Working with a group of renowned experts and testing facilities, Pfeiffer Consulting offers independent, high-level bench testing and analysis of products and technologies for both professionals and the industry.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc., is a world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software to help customers experience their ideas digitally before they are built. Fortune 100 companies -- as well as the last 15 Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects -- use Autodesk software tools to design, visualize and simulate their ideas to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation for competitive advantage. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk, Maya and 3ds Max are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.